Local doctor providing hearing aids to people in Ghana
Special to the Daily Herald
Posted: Friday, August 19, 2011 12:06 am
The ability to hear is something many people take for granted. But without it, communication can be very difficult.
And in a country like Ghana, a person with hearing loss can have a hard time finding employment. Those who can't find work often live in desperate poverty.
Dr. Layne M. Garrett, an audiologist at Timpanogos Hearing and Balance, has given the gift of improved hearing to hundreds of people in Ghana, from the capital city of Accra to tiny villages across the country.
Garrett says most of the hearing loss he encounters in Ghana comes from genetic factors or diseases like malaria. He has traveled to Ghana three times since 2005, and has another trip planned for November. He estimates that his team of audiologists, medical doctors, nurses, educators, and support staff has fit about 3,000 needy folks with hearing aids. The hearing aids are donated to Timpanogos Hearing and Balance, and are sometimes refurbished before being taken to Ghana.
In addition to the difficulties of finding employment, a person with hearing loss can often be physically at risk if they are unable to hear an approaching vehicle or a smoke detector, for example. Hearing loss can reduce people's ability to communicate with and understand others, straining relationships and leading to problems like depression, isolation, and withdrawal.
Garrett remembers one small boy, about 3 years old, in Ghana in 2005. The boy's family knew he couldn't hear, so they brought him to Garrett's clinic, where the boy was fitted with a hearing aid.
"Watching his face light up the minute he was able to hear his mother's voice was just an incredible thing," Garrett recalls.
Garrett doesn't confine his humanitarian work to overseas. During the Christmas season, Timpanogos Hearing and Balance operates a program to fit local people with hearing aids on a charitable basis. The office is currently accepting nominations on its website, utahhearingaids.com.
"Being able to help people, whether they're there or here, makes the experience worthwhile," Garrett says.
